


bad enough for you

by tgrsndshrks



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: 19 y/o louis and 21 y/o zayn btw y'know just clarifying, Alternate Universe, Body Modification, M/M, Piercings, louis gets his belly button pierced, this isn't really blatantly zouis but it's hinted at so, zayn is a piercer
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-06-26
Updated: 2014-06-26
Packaged: 2018-02-06 07:35:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,738
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1849777
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tgrsndshrks/pseuds/tgrsndshrks
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>louis gets his belly button pierced. zayn is the piercer. niall is there for moral support but does a really horrible job at it.</p>
            </blockquote>





	bad enough for you

**Author's Note:**

> god i COMPLETELY blame tyler tumblr user mdtwn ao3 user tylerthecreator for this because they mentioned louis with a belly button piercing and i got kind of carried away.
> 
> i tried to make this as realistic as possible so i based it on my own body piercing experiences. only zayn didn't do any of my piercings. which is a shame because he would've touched my boobs in that case.
> 
> title is an all time low song and it's the only thing i could come up with. also this isn't proofread, only spell checked.

Louis's a nervous mess, pacing along the cases of body jewelry in the center of the shop. Plugs, barbells, rings, captive balls, regular earring studs. He's looking over the curved barbells, trying to choose one for himself. Niall is over by the band t-shirts, looking as cheerful as ever. Louis is just focusing on not having a heart attack. The shop they're in looks kind of sketchy, but it's got the best safety reports in the county. It's part clothing shop, part smoke shop, part piercing shop. Louis's decided to trust the internet on this one occasion and get his piercing here.

The beaded curtain at the back of the shop parts and this absurdly handsome boy appears. He's in all black except for a red bandana tied loose around his neck; his facial hair looks neat yet somehow also effortless and he's absolutely covered in tattoos to the tips of his fingers. Louis spots a few facial piercings as well.

“Sorry,” he says, rushing over behind the counter and to Louis, who's now sort of forgotten that he's about to pay someone to shove a needle through his skin. “Didn't hear you lads come in. How can I help you?”

“Er, hello,” Louis says, swallowing thickly. “I called a few hours ago to ask if the person who does body piercings is in?”

“Louis, was it?” the boy asks. “You talked to me. I'm Zayn.” He offers Louis a tattooed hand and Louis takes it, shaking it once.

“Yeah,” Louis says. Zayn. The name fits him. “I was hoping to get my belly button pierced.”

“I can do that,” Zayn says, leaning on the counter. “I just need your ID and I'll go print out the paperwork.”

Louis anxiously gets his wallet out and passes Zayn his ID. Zayn disappears behind the beaded curtain again. Louis goes to turn around to say something to Niall but Niall is already next to him.

“Y'alright lad?” Niall asks, smacking Louis on the shoulder. “It's just a piercing.”

“I'm fine,” Louis says, sighing. “Just anxious 'cause I don't know what's going to happen I guess.”

“It can't be that complicated,” Niall says, looking at plugs in the cases. “Look, these gauges have real flowers in them.” Louis rolls his eyes, looks back down at the curved barbells.

Zayn comes out of the back again, the beaded curtain swinging behind him. He's got a few pieces of paper along with Louis's ID. He puts them down on the counter between them.

“Basically I just need you to sign this paper that says you're over eighteen,” Zayn says, digging for a pen in the drawer next to him. “Then I need you to sign this paper that says you're consenting to me poking you with a needle. That's all for paperwork; then we just pick jewelry and go do it. Did you pick one yet?”

Louis slides the papers over to look at the barbells again. “What kind is normal for belly button piercings?” he asks. He's already researched this; he just wants an excuse to listen to Zayn talk some more.

“For a new belly button piercing you'll want a curved barbell,” Zayn says, unlocking the case and pulling out a tray of them. He puts them on the counter. “Fourteen gauge is standard and I'd recommend a five eighths of an inch length to leave space for swelling during healing. Something like this.” Zayn points to a plain silver barbell, curved just slightly. “I wear these for my eyebrow.”

“That's a bit boring for me,” Louis admits. “I was hoping for something more like this.” He points out a selection of curved barbells with various colored rhinestones on either end. Zayn nods.

“These are good quality,” he says, picking up one with sparkling clear rhinestones. “Surgical grade steel. It'll cost you a few extra quid but I think they're worth it. What color?”

“Get a blue one,” Niall says loudly, and Zayn looks at him irritatedly.

“That's what I was thinking,” Louis says, picking up a barbell with bright blue rhinestones. One of the stones is a bit bigger than the other.

“So this one will sit with the bigger stone in your belly button,” Zayn explains, turning it in Louis's fingers so he's looking at it the right way. 

“I like the dangly ones,” Niall says, looking down at a selection of barbells with butterflies and Playboy bunnies.

“Those aren't good for healing piercings,” Zayn says. “They catch on everything. You would not believe how many white girls come in here wanting Playboy bunny charms hanging off their brand new piercings.” He shakes his head to himself and starts hitting buttons on the register. “Is the blue one your pick?”

“Yeah,” Louis says. He sighs, grabbing the pen and looking over his paperwork. Once he's assured he's not signing his life away he signs and pushes the paperwork over towards Zayn. He's printing out a receipt.

“So with the jewelry it'll be forty pounds even,” Zayn says. They exchange a few cards (both ID and credit) and within a few seconds it's paid for. Zayn tidies up the counter before taking Louis's new jewelry and heading for a door with a very large DO NOT ENTER graffitied on it. “Don't mind that; you can come in,” Zayn says, gesturing to the sign and grinning. He holds the door for Louis and Niall and follows them back.

The room is incredibly clean looking aside from a wall of more graffiti behind the table. Niall sits in a chair and stares at the wall. Louis sort of hovers in the middle of the room as Zayn goes for the sink in the corner, sitting in one of those wheely chairs.

“Who did the graffiti on the walls?” Niall asks, as Zayn's washing his hands.

“Me,” Zayn says. “I do art when I'm not piercing.”

“Sick,” Niall says absently, still staring. Zayn pulls a pair of black rubber gloves on and uncaps a pen. He wheels his chair over to Louis.

“Can you lift your shirt up and just stand normal?” Zayn asks. “Don't hold your breath or anything.” Louis nods and Zayn wheels himself up close to Louis's stomach, studying his belly button. “You've got the most symmetrical belly button,” he says. “It's kind of perfect for a piercing.” He taps his pen right where the piercing will go, leaving a purple dot. “Does that placement look alright?”

Louis walks over to the mirror, still holding his shirt up. He can't really tell what it'll look like, since it's just a purple dot and all, but he thinks it looks good.

“Yeah,” Louis says, and he can feel his heart rate picking up.

“Alright,” Zayn says, “you can lay down then.”

“Can I watch?” Niall asks, even as he's already halfway across the room. He stands on the other side of the table from Zayn.

“Just stay back a bit,” Zayn says. He wipes down Louis's belly button, readies the jewelry, and then unpacks the brand new sterilized needle.

“That needle is massive,” Niall says loudly, and Louis glares at him.

“It's a standard piercing needle,” Zayn says, looking at him. 

“Still looks huge,” Niall says.

“Niall, shut up,” Louis says.

“So what I'm gonna have you do,” Zayn says to Louis, “is you're going to take a deep breath in, hold it, and then I'll count to three and on three you exhale and I'll do the piercing. After that I just have to do a little switch to the jewelry and you'll be all finished. Sound alright?” Zayn's hands are already on his stomach.

“Suppose so,” Louis says. “Ready as I'll ever be.”

“Alright then,” Zayn says. “Breathe in.” Louis does. “One. Two. Three.”

It's less of a stabbing feeling and more of a pinch, it turns out. Louis only clenches his jaw a bit and then Zayn's hands are working quickly to put the jewelry in. Zayn sits back a bit to look at his work.

“Wicked,” Niall says.

“You're finished,” Zayn says. “Don't sit up too quick though.” 

Louis props himself up on his elbows and looks down at himself. His belly button is now adored with two blue rhinestones, reflecting the fluorescent light from the ceiling. He smiles to himself.

“Thanks,” Louis says.

“That'll be totally healed in about five or six months,” Zayn says, as he washes his hands again. “Don't go swimming or soak in the tub or anything in the meantime. Keep it clean, salt water soaks, only touch it with clean hands, all that good stuff.” He dries his hands. “The blue suits you.” Louis feels himself blush and hopes Zayn will assume it's just adrenaline from being pierced.

“I'll take care of it,” Louis says, carefully standing up. He goes to the mirror and looks at his new addition. The perfect shade of blue and just sparkly enough.

“How big are your gauges?” Niall's voice asks. Zayn sighs.

“Three quarter inch,” Zayn says. “They're called plugs, by the way. Gauge is the size. The plug is the jewelry.”

“Oh,” Niall says. “Sick.”

Zayn appears next to Louis in the mirror. “Can I take a photo of it for my portfolio?” he asks.

“Sure,” Louis says. He lets Zayn get his phone and snap a quick shot of his belly.

“It turned out really well,” Zayn decides, as he pockets his phone. “Next time you want something done you can come back here. I'll get you my card. They're out front.”

“Well, I don't know if I'm getting anything else pierced,” Louis says as he and Niall follow Zayn out.

“Well, maybe you'll want to contact me for something else then,” Zayn says, picking a card off the stack on the counter. He gives it to Louis and smiles at him. Louis raises an eyebrow at him.

“Perhaps,” he says, pocketing the card. He looks over to Niall, who's peeking into the smoke shop. “Niall, let's go, you have to drive so I can lean the passenger's seat back.”

“If I have to drive then we're stopping at Nando's,” Niall decides, grabbing Louis's car keys directly out of his front pocket. Louis rolls his eyes.

“Fine,” he says. He looks at Zayn. “I'll call you then.”

“'Course,” Zayn says, and Niall drags Louis back out the front door. Louis wonders if Zayn prefers boys with piercings. Maybe his tongue would be next.


End file.
